Tour de Wallonie 2020 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

August 17, 2020

Tour de Wallonie 2020 – Stage 2 – Frasnes-Lez-Anvaing – Wavre : 172,3 km

The 2020 VOO–Tour de Wallonie is a four-stage men’s professional road cycling race mainly held in the Belgian region of Wallonia. It is a 2.Pro race as part of the 2020 UCI Europe Tour and the inaugural 2020 UCI ProSeries. It is the forty-seventh edition of the Tour de Wallonie, starting on 16 August in Soignies and finishing on 19 August in Erezée. It was originally scheduled for 27 – 31 July, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed to mid-August after the UCI’s May calendar update and was shortened from five stages like in years prior to four stages.

Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) claimed victory on stage 2 of the Tour de Wallonie, beating overall leader Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) to the line in another bunch sprint in Wavre.

It was a tough day in the saddle with an undulating finale that saw Mark Cavendish (Bahrain McLaren) and Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep) dropped, plus Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal) and Zdenek Stybar (Deceuninck-QuickStep) going on the attack, but it came back together for a contest between the remaining fast men.

After CCC Team had dragged the Gilbert and Stybar move back, QuickStep, switching to Florian Senechal, stretched it out in the final couple of kilometres, but Ewan looked poised when his lead-out man Jasper De Buyst hit the front in the final kilometre.

Démare fought off Senechal to get on the wheel of Ewan, and had enough power left in the legs to overhaul the Australian to take his second win of the season after Milano-Torino earlier this month.

Dan McLay finished third, just ahead of his Arkea-Samsic teammate Nacer Bouhanni, with the pair both shaking their heads as they crossed the line.

Although he missed out on the stage win, Ewan retained the yellow jersey as overall leader ahead of the hillier final two stages.

How it unfolded

The 172km stage from Frasnes-Lez-Anvaing – Wavre started out in routine fashion, with a six-man breakaway heading up the road after a few kilometres and staying out front for most of the day. In there were: James Fouche (Hagens Berman Axeon), Tom Wirtgen (Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles), Gianni Marchand (Tartoletto-Isorex), Ludwig De Winter (Circus-Wanty Gobert), Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix) and Toon Aerts (Telenet-Baloise Lions).

They built a lead of 3:40 as Lotto Soudal controlled the peloton, before Groupama-FDJ, Bahrain McLaren and Arkea-Samsic collaborated later on and the gap steadily dropped. The catch was made with 27km to go, just after a crash that saw both Bouhanni and NTT Pro Cycling’s Ryan Gibbons hit the deck. A couple of kilometres later, the riders crossed the finish line for the first time, embarking on a 25km loop around Wavre before the real finale.

It was an undulating finishing circuit and Cavendish was dropped with 17.5km to go on a short incline. The British sprinter, whose place at the Tour de France remains in serious doubt, did manage to claw his way back but just as things kicked off again on a steep cobbled climb to the final intermediate sprint. He was soon joined by Bennett, who blew up and almost came to a halt.

That’s where Gilbert attacked, using the pavement to avoid the cobbles. Stybar responded and came around to take the full three bonus seconds at the top, with Gilbert settling for two, and the pair pressed on over the top. Joined by Loic Vliegen (Circus-Wanty), and Amaury Capiot (Sport Vlaanderen Baloise), they tried to drive a four-man split but CCC soon came to the fore and snuffed it out with 6km to go.

CCC continued to dominate the run-in but neither Matteo Trentin nor Greg Van Avermaet were able to really compete in the sprint. Instead, Deceuninck-QuickStep stretched it out in the final two kilometres, before Lotto Soudal finally came to the front to perform the lead-out proper.

Jasper De Buyst led it out, with Ewan in the wheel, but Démare successfully fought off Senechal for the Australian’s wheel, and had the power to overhaul him just ahead of the line.

Results :
1 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 3:57:59
2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
3 Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
4 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
5 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep
6 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Israel Start-Up Nation
7 Arvid De Kleijn (Ned) Riwal Readynez
8 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Total Direct Energie
9 Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Bingoal WB
10 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
11 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
12 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
13 Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Team Ineos
14 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R la Mondiale
15 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
16 Donavan Vincent Grondin (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
17 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
18 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
19 Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
20 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
21 Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team
22 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
23 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
24 Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Burgos-BH
25 Andre Carvalho (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
26 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
27 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
28 Alexander Krieger (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
29 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
30 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
31 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
32 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
33 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
34 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
35 Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie
36 Nick Van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Readynez
37 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
38 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain McLaren
39 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
40 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
41 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-Up Nation
42 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
43 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
44 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal WB
45 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-Quickstep
46 Alex Molenaar (Ned) Burgos-BH
47 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Bingoal WB
48 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
49 Andreas Lorentz Kron (Den) Riwal Readynez
50 Ryan Kamp (Ned) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
51 Romain Hardy (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
52 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R la Mondiale
53 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
54 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
55 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ
56 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team
57 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
58 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
59 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez
60 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
61 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling
62 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
63 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
64 August Jensen (Nor) Riwal Readynez
65 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team
66 Toon Vandebosch (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
67 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
68 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
69 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Bingoal WB
70 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
71 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
72 Thijs Aerts (Bel) Telenet Lions
73 Jens Reynders (Bel) Hagens Berman Axeon
74 Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Telenet Lions
75 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
76 Alexandar Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
77 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos
78 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
79 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
80 Kevin Inkelaar (Ned) Bahrain McLaren
81 Andreas Goeman (Bel) Telenet Lions
82 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
83 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team
84 James Fouche (NZl) Hagens Berman Axeon
85 Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
86 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren
87 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
88 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
89 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH
90 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Bingoal WB
91 Lars Van der Haar (Ned) Telenet Lions
92 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
93 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Team Ineos
94 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:00:14
95 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:00:15
96 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:18
97 Yentl Bekaert (Bel) Telenet Lions 0:00:23
98 Kevin Reza (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
99 Roy Jans (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
100 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
101 Eli Iserbyt (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
102 Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
103 Jacob Relaes (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
104 Lennert Teugels (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:00:31
105 Gianni Marchand (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
106 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:00:39
107 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
108 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
109 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-Quickstep
110 Lars Van den Berg (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
111 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:00:49
112 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team
113 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos 0:01:01
114 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team
115 Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
116 Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
117 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Total Direct Energie 0:01:03
118 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:01:05
119 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:01:08
120 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:02:59
121 Jakob Egholm (Den) Hagens Berman Axeon
122 Christoffer Lisson (Den) Riwal Readynez
123 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
124 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
125 Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Den) NTT Pro Cycling
126 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
127 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
128 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Lions
129 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
130 Angel Fuentes Paniego (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:05:18
131 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
132 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie
133 Elias Van Breussegem (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
134 Tom Paquot (Bel) Bingoal WB
135 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain McLaren
136 Julien Van den Brande (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
137 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal
138 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
139 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling 0:08:00
140 Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Lions 0:08:11
141 Carlos Canal Blanco (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:08:12
142 Pim Ronhaar (Ned) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
143 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep
144 Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert
145 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling
146 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos 0:09:56
147 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:09:57
148 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:12:18

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 8:15:03
2 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:02
3 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:06
4 Jens Reynders (Bel) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:00:09
5 Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:12
6 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB 0:00:14
7 James Fouche (NZl) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:00:15
8 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:16
9 Arvid De Kleijn (Ned) Riwal Readynez
10 Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) Bingoal WB
11 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R la Mondiale
12 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
13 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
14 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
15 Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Burgos-BH
16 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
17 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
18 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
19 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
20 Andre Carvalho (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
21 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling
22 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team
23 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
24 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
25 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
26 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
27 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
28 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
29 Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Team Ineos
30 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
31 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team
32 Nick Van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Readynez
33 Ryan Kamp (Ned) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
34 Alexander Krieger (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix
35 Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team
36 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
37 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Bingoal WB
38 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R la Mondiale
39 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep
40 Romain Hardy (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
41 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
42 August Jensen (Nor) Riwal Readynez
43 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
44 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
45 Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie
46 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
47 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
48 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
49 Andreas Lorentz Kron (Den) Riwal Readynez
50 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-Up Nation
51 Alex Molenaar (Ned) Burgos-BH
52 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
53 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Total Direct Energie
54 Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling
55 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
56 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
57 Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Bingoal WB
58 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
59 Marco Haller (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
60 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
61 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) CCC Team
62 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ
63 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) CCC Team
64 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
65 Donavan Vincent Grondin (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
66 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez
67 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
68 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale
69 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
70 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH
71 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
72 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
73 Kevin Inkelaar (Ned) Bahrain McLaren
74 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
75 Toon Vandebosch (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
76 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
77 Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Telenet Lions
78 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain McLaren
79 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Bingoal WB
80 Andreas Goeman (Bel) Telenet Lions
81 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
82 Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
83 Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Bingoal WB
84 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Team Ineos
85 Alexandar Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
86 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
87 Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Ineos
88 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
89 Lars Van der Haar (Ned) Telenet Lions
90 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:00:33
91 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:34
92 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:35
93 Tim Merlier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
94 Roy Jans (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:39
95 Jacob Relaes (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
96 Eli Iserbyt (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal
97 Gianni Marchand (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:00:45
98 Lennert Teugels (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:00:47
99 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:48
100 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:00:55
101 Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
102 Lars Van den Berg (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
103 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:09
104 Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:01:11
105 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team 0:01:17
106 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Ineos
107 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:01:19
108 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:01:33
109 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team 0:01:37
110 Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling 0:01:53
111 Roger Kluge (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:02:20
112 Yentl Bekaert (Bel) Telenet Lions 0:02:37
113 Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:02:40
114 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:02:44
115 Thijs Aerts (Bel) Telenet Lions
116 Kevin Reza (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:03:04
117 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:03:15
118 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
119 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex
120 Michael Carbel Svendgaard (Den) NTT Pro Cycling
121 Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Lions
122 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:03:23
123 Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:03:45
124 Jakob Egholm (Den) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:03:47
125 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Total Direct Energie
126 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:03:52
127 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:05:34
128 Angel Fuentes Paniego (Spa) Burgos-BH
129 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
130 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:05:41
131 Christoffer Lisson (Den) Riwal Readynez 0:05:43
132 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Israel Start-Up Nation
133 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
134 Stan Dewulf (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:06:01
135 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Bahrain McLaren 0:06:46
136 Tom Paquot (Bel) Bingoal WB 0:08:01
137 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Total Direct Energie 0:08:02
138 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling 0:08:16
139 Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:08:22
140 Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Lions 0:08:26
141 Carlos Canal Blanco (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:08:28
142 Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:09:43
143 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos 0:10:12
144 Pim Ronhaar (Ned) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:10:56
145 Elias Van Breussegem (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:12:01
146 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:12:41
147 Julien Van den Brande (Bel) Tarteletto-Isorex 0:12:59
148 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) NTT Pro Cycling 0:16:12
149 Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal 0:19:59